Fall Photos '08

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Fall in A'dam

We've had a very busy fall. The weather is a lot like Portland, so no big surprises here. September was a mix of wet days with many beautiful sunny and 70 degree days. The sunny days are often spent in Vondel Park on the climbing tree and playing frisbee. Kiley is becoming quite the little frisbee player. We spent one of the gorgeous sunny days in September with friends picking apples at a farm near by.

After a few short weeks of school, Kiley and Jacqui took off for a quick trip to Utah for Aunt Jenni and Uncle Dave's wedding. It was so great to see the family! It was sad to leave them behind as the plane flew east over the Atlantic, but the homesickness didn't last for long. A few days after returning we started getting our first of many visitors come our way.

Priscilla, a friend of Jacqui's, (but don't tell Kiley that cuz she has laid claim to Pri as her friend), left her hubby at home and came out to visit for a week. The sun was out all week which made touring the city a pleasure and Brian hung out with the kids while Jac and Pri snuck in a weekend to Paris. The kids adore Pri especially playing the burrito game which involves getting rolled up in a blanket and being tossed over her shoulder.

We've spent time with some friends from club sport. Deb and Mike were on a 6 week tour around Europe and Amsterdam was one of their stops. They came bearing gifts from friends back in 'Feverton' as Quinn calls it. We got together a few times. One of them being at our favorite sushi restaurant where we had a fight over paying the bill. Thank you again! Cindi Murray and her husband Doug who used to take classes with Jacqui at the club made it into town for a couple of days after spending a month in Spain. So great to see you! We look forward to having many more visitors.

Kids had 'fall break' mid October so we took advantage of their time off and headed to Tenerife, Spain which is one of the Canary Islands. We travelled with our back door neighbors Jo and Drew who have two children Megan and Halie. Our second day at the resort we met another couple, Sarah and Mark who are from the Isle of Man. They have a son Jack who is Quinn's age and the two became fast friends. Kiley adored their 2 year old daughter Megan. All three families spent the entire week together at the pool, the beach, meals, kids disco, the animal park ect. We have been keeping in touch and hope to make it to visit them possibly on our way to Ireland next year.

The American Women's Club of Amsterdam hosted a Trick-or-Treat night on Halloween since they don't celebrate that here. Quinn was a cow after much protest. A friend gave the costume to us a few months ago and he loved it then, but it had worn off it's appeal by the time October 31st rolled around. Unfortunately for him, there is not a Target or Old Navy around the corner to buy a transformer costume. Kiley once again didn't really care what she was...it's all about the candy. She ended up being a witch.

Jacqui's parents flew in on Halloween day and we dragged them around that night till they collapsed. Over their two week stay we covered all of Amsterdam by tram, bus and walking as well as making weekend trips to Brugge, Belgium and Koln, Germany. The kids are still asking when Mimi Dori and Papa John are going to come back.

It snowed this past weekend. They say it's been a long time since it snowed here in Amsterdam. Word is that about every 10 years there is a deep freeze. All the canals freeze over and there is a big ice skating race that takes place on the canals. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it happens while we are here.

We just got Priscilla back on a plane heading to Portland this morning. She flew in town on Saturday for the weekend to go to the Tracy Chapman concert with Jacqui. The tickets were purchased a few months ago however Brian couldn't go with her because he is in sunny Florida for 10 days for sales meetings. He is enjoying the 75 degree weather from inside the hotel conference room. We've been skyping with him every day which makes the 10 days a little easier to handle.

We hope and pray you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving Day! The kids will be in school since they don't have it here, but we are planning on getting together with some American friends over the weekend to celebrate.

What a great adventure you're on! Thanks for emailing me with the site. I watched your family pictures scroll by to the tune of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by Israel K. Sounds corny, but it was very meaningful to me. You are so lucky (just like me) to have such a great family. Life is a wonderful adventure. I'm excited to watch yours unfold on your blog.